FaNUK examples of family names

The Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland is a
research project led by UWE Bristol which details the linguistic
origins, history, and geographical distribution of the 45,000 most
frequent surnames in Britain and Ireland.

Cambridge
914 bearers in the 1881 Census, scattered throughout England, but
most heavily concentrated in Gloucestershire. From
Cambridge in Gloucestershire or from the university city in
Cambridgeshire. It was not until late in the 14th
century that the form Cambrigge became common for the
university city (which was earlier recorded as
Grantebrycge, Cantebrigge, and similar), and so
early bearers such as Richard de Cambrige (recorded in
Staffordshire Pipe Rolls in 1182) and Alan de Cambrigge
(recorded in Staffordshire Assize Rolls in 1227) are almost
certainly from the place in Gloucestershire.

Campbell
50,516 bearers in the 1881 Census, widespread with the heaviest
concentration in west Scotland; 76,576 bearers in 2011.
This Scottish surname originated as a nickname from Gaelic
caimbeul ‘crooked mouth’. Through folk etymology, it was
often represented in Latin documents as de campo bello ‘of
the beautiful field’, which sometimes led to the name being
translated into Anglo-Norman French as Beauchamp. Clan
Campbell is a prolific and historically influential Highland
Scottish clan with many branches, claiming descent from Gille
Easpaig Caim beul Ó Duibhne, who lived in the early 13th
century.

Chakrabarti
174 bearers in 2011. This is an Indian surname, a variant
form of the more frequent Chakraborty. It derives from
Sanskrit cakravartī, literally meaning ‘wheels rolling’,
but used metaphorically for a ruler whose chariot wheels roll
everywhere without obstruction.

(New)Clutterbuck
1,027 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in
Gloucestershire; 1,165 bearers in 2011. While this name
has been included in previous surname dictionaries, it has not been
satisfactorily explained. Reaney offered no etymological
explanation, only citing a statement by H. P. R. Finberg (1957)
that the Clutterbucks had fled from Holland in the 16th
century. The FaNBI team’s research has shown that this is not the
full story, with bearers of the surname recorded in Gloucestershire
from the 15th century. Clutterbuck is of Dutch origin, and
is a nickname from kloterboeck, a variant of Early Modern
Dutch kladdeboek ‘merchant’s account book’.

(Corrected)Dawkins
2,165 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Hampshire,
Kent and Essex, and Leicestershire; 4,205 bearers in
2011. This is a form of the surname Dawkin
with the addition of post-medieval excrescent -s. In
post-medieval times, when the vast majority of surnames were
hereditary, it was not uncommon for an -s to be added to
the end of a name. Dawkin is a Middle English personal
name from the personal name Daw + the diminutive suffix
-kin. Previous dictionaries have stated that the personal
name Daw is a pet form of David, but in most
cases it is probably a rhyming form of Raw, a Middle
English version of the personal name Ralph.

(New)Farah
5 bearers in the 1881 Census, resident in Middlesex and northern
England; 1,502 bearers in 2011. This surname has two
sources – an English one and a Muslim one. The rare English
name is a northern pronunciation of the much commoner
Farrer, an occupational name from Middle English
ferrour ‘ironworker, blacksmith’, itself a borrowing of
Old French ferreor. The Muslim name is from a personal
name based on Arabic faraḥ‘joy, happiness,
delight’. There are many Muslim families with this name in
present-day Britain. Its most famous bearer is Mo Farah, the
long-distance runner and British Olympic gold medallist, who was
born in Mogadishu, Somalia.

(New)Farraday
(135 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Lancashire; 21
bearers in 2011)
Vardy (602 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire). These are two versions of
the same name – a nickname from Middle English faire
dai ‘(have a) fair day’, presumably for someone with a
cheerful disposition. These two forms have not been included in
previous dictionaries. The form Faraday does appear in
Reaney’s dictionary, but is incorrectly explained as meaning
‘servant of Fair’, from a Middle English personal name +
daie ‘servant, person in charge of dairy cattle’.

(Corrected)Hawkins
21,354 bearers in the 1881 Census, widespread in England, with the
heaviest concentrations in Somerset and Gloucestershire,
Staffordshire, and Kent; 28,843 bearers in 2011. This
surname has three possible origins. It can be a form of the surname
Hawkin with the addition of genitival -s, meaning
‘son of Hawkin’, or with post-medieval excrescent ‑s (in
post-medieval times, when the vast majority of surnames were
hereditary, it was not uncommon for an -s to be added to
the end of a name) Hawkin is from the Middle English
personal name Haw (a rhyming pet form of Raw, a
Middle English form of Ralph) + the diminutive suffix
-kin, and therefore means ‘young Ralph’. Hawkins
may also be a variant form of the surname Hawking with
post-medieval excrescent -s; Hawking is a
locative surname from Hawkinge in Kent, which means ‘hawk place’,
from hafoc ‘hawk’ + the place-name forming suffix
-ing. Hawkins may also be Irish in origin, from Ó
hEacháin ‘descendant of Eachán’; Eachán is a pet
form of the personal name Eachaidh, which means
‘horseman’.

(Corrected)Hislop
1,801 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Lowland
Scotland; 1,630 bearers in 2011. This is a locative
surname of Scottish origin. It comes from a minor place called
Hislop in Roxburghshire, which is on the banks of Hazelhope Burn, a
tributary of Falnash Burn, which feeds into the river Teviot. The
place-name, as well as Hazelhope Burn, derives from Middle English
hasel ‘hazel’ + hop ‘deep enclosed valley’.
Previously, this name has been incorrectly explained as coming from
an unidentified place in northern England.

(New)Li
An immigrant surname fully explained for British and Irish readers
for the first time is Li, often written
Lee. This is one of the commonest Chinese surnames
in Britain, with over 9000 bearers in 2011, not counting those who
spell it Lee, which will multiply the number
considerably. It has at least six different origins in a range of
Chinese dialects, including ‘plum’, ‘chestnut’, ‘black’,
‘fortunate’, and ‘strict’.”

(Corrected)Maude
1,131 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in the West
Riding of Yorkshire; 1,204 bearers in 2011. Previous
dictionaries have explained this as a relationship name from the
Middle English female personal name Maud. While this may
be the origin of the name in a small number of cases, the surname
is mainly locative, from Mold in Flintshire, which is recorded as
Mohaut in 1297. The place-name derives from Anglo-Norman
French mont haut ‘high hill or mound’, the Norman name for
Bailey Hill, on which Mold Castle stood.

(Corrected)Palin
1,277 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in the north-west
Midlands; 1,873 bearers in 2011. This is from a late
Middle English development of the surname Paulin, itself
from the Middle English personal name Paulin, a diminutive
form of Paul. Some previous dictionaries have incorrectly
explained this either as a locative name from Palling in Norfolk or
Poling in Sussex, or as a relationship name from Welsh ap
Heilyn ‘son of Heilyn’.

(New)Patel
101,463 bearers in 2011. This is one of the commonest
Indian surnames in Britain, with over 100,000 bearers in 2011. It
is a status name from a Hindu and Parsi word for a village headman.
Priti Patel is MP for Witham in Essex and Secretary of State for
International Development.

Pegden
157 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Kent; 131
bearers in 2011. This serves as an example of how locative
surnames often come from minor localities which are unlikely to be
known by most people. The surname Pegden is from a small
place called Pegden Farm in Lindfield (Sussex).

Pritchard
16,079 bearers in the 1881 Census, widespread in Wales and west
England; 23,415 bearers in 2011. This name is of
Welsh origin. It is a relationship name meaning ‘son of Richard’,
from the Welsh patronymic element ap ‘son (of)’ + the
personal name Richard. In the surname, the patronymic
ap has been incorporated in to the following personal
name, causing ap Richard to become Prichard.

(New)Redknap
97 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in London,
Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire; 102 bearers in 2011.
This name does not appear in previous dictionaries. It is probably
a nickname from Middle English red ‘red’ + knappe
‘boy, servant’, for a boy or servant with red hair or a ruddy
complexion. This explanation is supported by the occurrence of a
similar medieval name, borne by Johannes Redknave in 1377
(in a poll tax return for Rutland), which derives from Middle
English red + knave ‘boy, servant’. However, in
some cases, Redknap may be a locative name, from Middle
English red + knap ‘hillock’.

Snow
4,032 bearers in the 1881 Census, widespread in England, with the
heaviest concentrations in Devon, Essex, and London; 4,630 bearers
in 2011. A nickname from Middle English
snou, snow ‘snow’, for someone with snow‐white
hair or an exceptionally pale complexion.

(Corrected)Starbuck
483 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Nottinghamshire,
Leicestershire, and Derbyshire; 1,076 bearers in 2011.
This is a variant of the surname Tarbuck, from a place
called Tarbock in Lancashire. The addition of the initial
­­S- is first noted in the 14th century, in
Robert Starbok’, recorded in Wombwell in the West Riding
of Yorkshire in the 1379 Poll Tax returns. The addition or loss of
initial S- is also found in other medieval surnames such
as Johannes Prynce, alias Sprynce (in the 1379
Poll Tax return for Thornhill, West Riding of Yorkshire). The
connection between Starbuck and Tarbuck can also
be seen in later records, with James Starbuck and James
Tarbuck both recorded in the parish register for
Netherseal (Leicestershire) in the late 18th century.
Previous dictionaries have suggested that Starbuck is from
a place called Starbeck in Harrogate, but this can be ruled out as
a possibility because the medieval surname forms end -bok
or -bouk, not –bek, and the place-name Starbeck
is not on record before 1817. The origin of the place-name Tarbock
is uncertain, though it may derive from the Old Scandinavian
personal name Thor, Thori or Old English
þorn ‘thorn’ + Old English brōc ‘brook, stream’.
The surname Starbuck was taken to America by Edward
Starbuck in the 1630s, but the Starbucks chain of coffee houses is
named after the first mate of the Pequod in Herman Melville's Moby
Dick.

(New)Stilgoe
96 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Oxfordshire and
Warwickshire; 249 bearers in 2011. This name is not found
in previous dictionaries. It is a nickname from Middle English
stille ‘silently, meekly, secretly’, also with the meaning
‘constantly’, + go ‘go, walk’, for someone who went about
silently or secretly, or for someone who was constantly ‘on the
go’.

Tobin
1,192 bearers in the 1881 Census, resident in Lancashire; also
concentrated in Tipperary, Kilkenny, Cork, and Waterford in Ireland
between 1847 and 1864; 3,946 bearers in GB in 2011; 3,873 bearers
in Ireland in 2008. This surname has a strong association
with Ireland, and is a form of Irish Tóibín, a gaelicized
form of the Norman French surname Saint Aubin, from Saint
Aubin in Brittany. However, it also has an alternative English
origin, from a pet form of the Middle English personal name
Tobias or Toby, ultimately from the Hebrew
personal name Tobiah.

(New)Toynbee
136 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Lincolnshire;
119 bearers in 2011. This names does not appear in
previous dictionaries. It is a locative name from Tumby in
Lincolnshire, the earliest forms of which had -n- rather
than ­-m-.

(New)Twelvetrees
66 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in south
Lincolnshire; 52 bearers in 2011. This rare name has
become more widely known through Billy Twelvetrees, the England
rugby union international. It is a variant of Twelftree
(in 1881 a Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire surname) with an
excrescent -s. Twelftree is probably an altered
form, by folk etymology, of Weldrick, a locative surname
from Wheldrake in the East Riding of Yorkshire. A gentry family
with a surname from this place is recorded in Bedfordshire in the
fourteenth century.

Warburton
7,367 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Lancashire,
Cheshire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire; 7,663 bearers in
2011. A locative surname from Warburton in Cheshire.
The place-name means ‘Wǣrburg’s estate’, from the Old English
female personal name Wǣrburg + Old
English tūn ‘farmstead, estate’.